To Die Another Day
by Rigonoko
Summary: Previously titled Numb Nothing. Harry Potter nearly dies and decides to change his life. Horrible Summary. Rated M for Saftey! From the strange mind of Me! MAJOR REWRITE GOING ON, PLEASE READ A/N AT BEGINNING!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys and gals. This story is undergoing a major rewrite. I re-read my work and saw too much cliché. Please stay with me. I will NOT give up.

Numb. The one simple word that described Harry Potter at this moment.

Harry Potter was completely broken.

He had just lost the one person that he wanted to be around. All he could do was weep as he was led away from the Atrium. It had all been a trap. The vision of Sirius, the Department of Mysteries, all fabricated by Voldemort. Harry's sorrow soon turned to rage. He was mad, not just at Bellatrix, but mostly at himself. How could he have been so stupid? Why didn't he check, truly check with Sirius before rushing off to try to save him? Maybe if he had… Maybe Sirius would still be alive.

Harry spent the rest of the school year locked in his dormitory, much to the anger of his fellow 5th year Gryffindor boys. Harry didn't leave the room he'd previously only spent his nights in, not even for meals. After the first three days of this, against and despite everything she stood for, Hermione Granger begged Dobby to bring him some food. Dobby brought the food to Harry Potter. He accepted it and ate. As long as he avoided all outside contact, that is. Not even the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore could break the spell Harry had placed on the door and windows.

Only after the Leaving Feast did Harry emerge. No words were spoken, only with complete silence and quiet breathing did Harry carry his trunk down to the train and board. He was distant and cold as they approached King's Cross. Harry departed the train without a word to his friends. They had tried to engage him in conversation on the train, but as he had since Sirius had died, he ignored them.

As Harry passed the barrier into the Muggle world, he realized that the Dursley's were nowhere to be found.

"Probably think I'm dead…" Harry thought to himself.

Harry drug his trunk to the curb, and stuck out his wand. After a few seconds, the Knight Bus was stopped in front of him.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus." The unfamiliar voice said.

Harry looked up and realized that this was not Stan Shunpike. In his place was- Harry leaned in to get a closer look at his nametag - Eustice it said. Eustice. Not that it mattered, not now. Not when Sirius was gone.

"Little Whinging, Surrey." Harry said quickly and quietly.

"Very well then sir, 16 sickles."

Harry handed over the money with no hesitation. In no time, they were screaming towards Surrey. For Ernie and Eustice, the ride was five minutes. For Harry, it seemed an eternity. They dropped him off down the street from his house.

As Harry made his way to Number Four, he realized that there was no car in the driveway. As Harry cautiously approached the door, he saw a plain white envelope with his name on it. Inside was a note.

BOY,

We have gone to visit my sister Marge. We will return in two weeks. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. If I notice anything at all out of place, there will be extreme consequences. Just because we are gone, doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want. There is a list of things you will do while we are gone. I want this house spotless when I return! As much as it angers me to do so, Petunia asked me to leave you some food, use only what is in the third cupboard.

-Vernon

Harry tore the note from the door and entered. He didn't feel like waiting to see if the Dursley's would beat him if he didn't comply.

In some ways, the two weeks that went by were some of the best he had. In between cleaning the whole house and weeding the garden, Harry had time to finish his Summer homework. He was also able to run every morning without fear of being caught. Every morning, he would get up and run a few miles. After a week of this, he noticed that it was easier for him to run further. But with all things, the fun came to an end.

Two days after Harry finished cleaning the house, the Dursley's returned. Dudley tracked mud into the house, staining the carpet. Vernon had been too engrossed in himself to notice. Dudley however, did. Deciding to have a little fun with his cousin, Dudley spoke up.

"Dad! Harry tracked mud onto the new carpet!"

Harry heard this and panicked. He ran upstairs but was not quick enough.

"Boy! I told you there would be extreme consequences if this house was dirty!" Vernon screamed, purple in the face. He drug Harry into his room.

Vernon beat Harry for four hours, until he felt Harry's body go limp. Harry Potter had been broken again for the second time. As Harry's vision began fading, Harry grasped at a small glimpse of happiness. He would soon be reunited with Sirius.

And then, Nothing. Harry Potter felt Nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The first thing Harry James Potter felt when he awoke was… Nothing. This bizarre fact hit Harry as soon as he stood. As he took in his surroundings, he realized that he was in… The Three Broomsticks?

Harry tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head.

"Give it time, my son. It will go away soon."

Harry froze. The voice was familiar. He should know, it had haunted his nightmares for years. It had only been a scream, but he knew its owner before he turned around.

"M...mum?" Harry stammered as he turned around to face the voice that had spoken softly to him.

"Yes son, it is me."

Harry couldn't believe it. Standing in front of him was… his mother. How could this be? It was then that Harry Potter realized… _He was dead._

The form of his mother noticed the look on his face and quickly spoke,

"No Harry, you are not dead. Not yet at least." Lily said. She saw the look of confusion again in his eyes as he looked around.

"Why are we in The Three Broomsticks?"

"This is The Three Broomsticks? My, it has changed since my time. At any rate, it does not truly matter. This is just a projection of a place that is close to you."

"Why am I here? And for that matter, if I am not dead, why are you here?" Harry asked.

"As with the Three Broomsticks, I am a projection of something close to you." Lily said.

"Why am I here?"

"Death itself has given you a choice. Return to your life or pass on and join your family now. Death has seen the repercussions of either choice and has put it upon you to decide your fate."

"What will happen if I choose to move on?"

"All I was told is that Voldemort would win. Death did not discuss with me the full details. He said nothing of what would happen if you returned. But I can help you. Harry, you have the capability to change the Wizarding world. Death and Fate have told me that they have been keeping a close eye on you since you were born. They are not pleased with the way things are. Not of your fault, but the fault of those who are to protect you, namely Albus Dumbledore."

Harry was perplexed. The spirit of his mother continued.

"Death and Fate normally have control over everything, but sometimes people meddle in things that need not be meddled in. Harry, as soon as you turned eleven, you should have been granted full rights to everything the Potter's and Evans have."

"What? Why was I never told this?" Harry strangled out to his mother.

"Your father, I, and Dumbledore decided it would be best if you didn't know until you started Hogwarts or Sirius told you. We felt that living with Sirius you would be well off until turned eleven."

"How could I have lived with Sirius? He was sent to Azkaban for the supposed murder of Peter."

"Sirius was sent to Azkaban? He killed Peter? No! I refuse to believe it!" Lily said, seemingly shocked at his statement.

"Sirius didn't do it. Peter was the one who betrayed you. Sirius cornered him, Peter seemed blew himself up along with 12 muggles, all that was found was a little finger. It turned out that Peter transformed into a rat and ran. Sirius was thrown in Azkaban for life."

"Was Sirius ever pardoned? Obviously the truth has had to have come out."

Harry swallowed hard. It was unbearably hard for him to talk about Sirius.

"No. Sirius… Died about a month ago. He escaped Azkaban a few years ago and went to find Peter. He found him, but Peter escaped. Last month, Voldemort lured me to the Department of Mysteries by planting the thought that he caught Sirius in my head. There was a battle. Sirius was fighting Bellatrix. He- he fell through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries…"

Harry began to cry. This was the first he had spoken of Sirius since that sad night.

"If Sirius was in Azkaban, you must have been living with Minerva then, correct?"

"Professor McGonagall? No I have lived in my own little hell with your sister and her husband for the past fifteen years."

"Petunia? I told Dumbledore to never put you with that horrible woman! I know she was my sister, but she hated me for what I was."

Harry thought to himself, _I'm beginning to realize that Dumbledore is hiding many things from me._

"Mum, is there any way for me to gain access to the Potter and Evans things?"

"Gringotts may still be able to help you there." Lily said. She looked behind her and back at Harry with a sad face "Harry, Death is telling me that it is time. Make your decision. Move on now, or walk out the front door and continue life."

Harry pondered his options, continue living in hell, or move on and see his dad and Sirius again. After a few moments, he turned back to his mother.

"Mum, please tell dad and Sirius that I love and miss them. I need to go back. There are unfinished things I need to deal with. Namely Voldemort. I love you mum."

"Goodbye Harry. Someday, I will finally be reunited with you. Until then, remember that I will always be watching over you."

Harry turned to leave.

"Oh, and Harry? Tell Petunia her flower wants her wish. She will understand."

Harry nodded and with that opened the door and walked into the bright light.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Something was wrong. As soon as he arrived for his guard duty at Number 4, Remus Lupin knew something was amiss. When Remus saw Mundungus Fletcher asleep in the bushes, he had a sudden urge to slap the waste of space awake and reprimand him. His conscience got the better of him however, and he portkeyed Fletcher to Hogwarts.

"_If anything happened while he was out, he will have to answer to me." _Remus growled in his head.

Remus' head snapped towards the house as the winds shifted. He smelt blood. And by the smell of it, there was a lot of it. He ran towards the front door and blasted it off the hinges.

"WHAT THE-!" Remus heard as the door splintered.

"Where is Harry? Where is he!" Remus screamed, letting a little bit of the wolf in him come out.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOME?" Screamed an irate Vernon Dursley.

"My name is Remus Lupin! Now where is Harry Potter?"

Vernon Dursley paled as soon as he heard the man say the boy's name.

"Y- You are one of those freaks aren't you?" Vernon stammered.

"Dursley, if you don't tell me where Harry is, I swear I will make your life a living hell."

"The fr—er… boy is in his room. He had a little accident earlier and we sent him to his room."

Remus tore up the stairs. It wasn't hard to find Harry's room. There were at least four locks on the outside as well as… a pet door? What had these people been subjecting him to? Did Dumbledore know about this? Remus undid the locks and opened the door to the bedroom. If you could call the space a bedroom. It looked more like a large closet. Remus Lupin paled even more, if that were even possible in given the how close the full moon was getting. Lying in a heap on what appeared to be a bed was the limp form of Harry Potter. His face was covered in blood and white as a sheet.

Remus' mind was swimming. Barely able to control his emotions, he fired off a patronus to Madam Pomfrey. Remus checked Harry's neck. No pulse. Only for a moment, he wept, before the rage overtook him and he ran downstairs to confront the Dursleys.

"DURSLEY YOU BASTARD! GET OVER HERE NOW!" Remus screamed.

"What do you want freak? The boy is fine, it's just a little bump on the head."

"A BUMP ON THE HEAD? HE'S DEAD!"

Petunia paled when she heard Remus say this.

"Dead? Well then, good riddance." Scoffed Vernon.

Vernon Dursley found himself thrown violently against the wall. Remus Lupin had grasped Vernon by the scruff of his meaty neck, and shoved him up against the wall, lifting him up off the ground with one hand. A considerable feat considering the sheer size of the man.

"Don't you ever say anything like that again Dursley. Harry Potter was more of a man than you ever will be." Remus spat at the man, his wolfish side beginning to show through.

"Remus, let him down." Said a voice behind the raging werewolf.

Vernon Dursley hit the ground in a heap and scurried away from the scary man that called himself Remus Lupin. Remus spun around to face the man behind the voice.

"Why are you here Dumbledore?" Remus said, still mad with rage.

"Poppy came to me when she received your message. We came to make sure Harry was ok."

"I assure you Albus, Harry is NOT ok. This sorry excuse for a man let him die!"

Albus was shook his head. Harry Potter dead? No, it was impossible. His instruments monitoring the property would have said if anything was wrong. With the grace of a fish out of water, he ran up the stairs to see for himself. Albus Dumbledore was not prepared for the sight he saw. The savior of the Wizarding World and his ticket to defeating Voldemort was splayed on what appeared to be a bed. Dumbledore knew as soon as he stepped towards him that he was indeed dead.

"Do you see Dumbledore? He's DEAD!" Remus yelled at the man.

"H—How is this possible? He was supposed to be protected here. He was supposed to be safe." Dumbledore said racking his brains to figure out how this had happened.

"Well he wasn't safe and now that fat pig of a man has killed him. All because you wouldn't take the time to allow us to actually check on him! If I hadn't caught the scent of the blood, we would probably still be switching shifts, waiting for him to make an appearance!" Remus said, barely controlling his anger.

Dumbledore said nothing. In his eyes, Remus had no room to speak. Two years earlier he had almost killed Harry himself when he didn't take his wolfsbane potion.

"Remus, I must ask you to leave. Your anger is overwhelming. You need to calm down."

"CALM DOWN? THIS IS CALM! YOU SHOULD BE THE ONE LEAVING! YOU ARE THE REASON HE IS DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"That is what I mean, your temper is interfering. I must take Harry's body back to Hogwarts to be buried."

"Back to Hogwarts? No! Harry will be buried, as per Sirius' request at Godric's Hollow next to his parents."

"I cannot allow you to do that Remus. It is best for everyone's safety that his body is laid to rest at Hogwarts."

"Excuse me, but I think I will decide where and when I will be buried." Said a weak voice behind the arguing men.

"Harry! You are alive!" Remus said as he rushed to his side and began to hug him. "I thought you were dead."

"I was… Or, at least I think I was. I remember Dursley beating me and losing consciousness . I ended up in a room that looked a lot like The Three Broomsticks." Harry said.

Both men ignored the strange statement.

"The good news is, you are alive and we can go back to doing what we were doing before. No need to worry about you." Said Dumbledore as he turned to leave.

"NO NEED TO WORRY?Albus, he was dead! That fat PIG downstairs KILLED him!"

"But he is ok now, isn't he Poppy?" Said Dumbledore, looking at the healer.

"As far as I can tell. He certainly looks beat up, but in good health." She said to Dumbledore.

"Then I see no need to worry about him Remus. He will be fine."

Remus Lupin was furious. Dumbledore was just going to leave Harry here after what was just witnessed? No. Remus wouldn't stand for it. He decided that Harry would come and live with him.

"No Dumbledore. Harry will come and live with me. He will be safer there."

"I can't allow you to do that Remus, with your affliction; you are not fit to care for Harry. He will stay here where he is safe."

"Dumbledore, I think I can protect myself around Remus." Said Harry, wondering why they seemed not to acknowledge him.

"Harry, I can't allow you to. The protections on Grimmauld Place are not as strong as they are here. The blood wards protecting this house prevent Voldemort from finding you."

"Blood wards? Dumbledore, do you know how Voldemort came back to life? He used MY BLOOD. Those wards are doing nothing now. Grimmauld Place is Unplottable and under Fidelius. I can't be found there."

Albus was stunned. The wards were doing nothing also? Dumbledore pulled an instrument out of his robes and examined it. All of the wards were in place, except for the blood ward and the ward that Dumbledore had placed to control Harry's powers.

"Well Harry, it seems that you are right. There are two wards that are currently down. The blood ward is one of them. It is against my better judgment, but I will allow you to stay with Remus until the next School term starts."

"Two wards? What other ward is down Albus?" Remus asked, noting Albus had said nothing about the other ward.

"A ward that I put in place to protect our young Harry here."

Remus was puzzled. He had looked at the wards whenever his shift started but never noticed that any were down. _Did Dumbledore put up wards that only he can read? I've heard of them, but it takes immense power to do so. _Remus thought.

"What did this ward do?" Asked Remus.

"It simply controlled the amount of magic Harry was able to use. I was unsure of his power and was worried that he could hurt someone if it was left unchecked."

"So you essentially bound his powers while he was at Privet Drive? What about when he left here? Why didn't his power flare up when he was at Hogwarts? Or the Ministry? Or even the Burrow?"

"The answer is simple. I placed the same wards on the Ministry and Hogwarts that were placed on Number Four. I placed the ward on the Burrow when I discovered that Harry had befriended young Mr. Weasley."

"So whenever I was anywhere safe, my power was held back? What happens when Voldemort finds these places? What happens when I can't protect those I care about? What about then Dumbledore?" Harry asked irately.

"Voldemort will never find the places in question. Even if he were to, the other wards world prevent him from entering."

As soon as Dumbledore spoke, the house was rocked by an explosion. Dumbledore looked outside and with a look of shock on his face, turned back towards Remus and Harry.

"Harry, stay here and protect your aunt and uncle. Remus, follow me." Dumbledore said as he drew his wand.

"Who is out there Albus?" Remus asked, drawing his wand.

Harry looked out the window and saw the face of the one person he wanted to hurt the most.

Bellatrix Lestrange was standing across the street from Number Four, wand pointed at the house cackling like the crazy thing she was. Behind her, were many Death Eaters, casting spells at the wards. At least, they were attempting to. The Death Eaters looked as if they were unsure of what they were doing.

Before Remus and Albus could react, Harry was running down the stairs, wand in hand, ready to kill.

_Ready to kill._


End file.
